This week’s PoliceOne First Person essay is from PoliceOne Member Jack Miller. Miller is one of the few officers left alive who was directly involved in Operation Switch, the first long-term undercover sting operation in the United States. In PoliceOne “First Person” essays, our Members and Columnists candidly share their own unique view of the world. This is a platform from which individual officers can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. If you want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members, simply send us an e-mail with your story.
By Jack Miller
Police1 Member
This is the last part of my four-part article on Operation Switch. We learned a lot during the operation and much has changed since the operation was conducted.
Then again, some things have changed very little. For example, we did not have cell phones or computers, but other than that, this type of operation could be a solution to your theft problem today.
It certainly affected ours.
Lessons Learned
Here are some of the lessons we learned during the operation:
1.) Information of the operation was intentionally kept from all officers and staff members who were not directly involved, for security purposes.
2.) We had not planned for the storage of the 24 cars and one semi tractor and trailer purchased. That was solved by using the back of a large ranch-style home, surrounded by a high fence and covering the cars with salvaged military parachutes. The semi was photographed and a sample of the load and the shipping documents taken. The semi and trailer were left on the street and LVMPD notified anonymously of their location for recovery.
3.) Small items such as credit cards, ID, jewelry and other items not subject to laboratory testing were placed in clear plastic bags so when the evidence was taken into court, a jury could see it.
4.) Plans were made for several situations, among which was how a police officer could get information that could lead to making an application for a search warrant. Our plan was solved by having one specific deputy District Attorney who was briefed on the operation approve all applications for search warrants. (It would have been best if there were two deputy District Attorneys.) In our case, one day a detective applied for a search warrant for our storefront, based on information from a thief he arrested who was one of our customers. The specific deputy District attorney was in court that day, and another deputy almost made the approval. It was stopped and the detective briefed.
5.) The safe house had to be designated as an off-site evidence storage facility and the investigator made an evidence custodian.
6.) As the undercover officers did not want to press the customer for identification for logical reasons, the customers had to be identified through other means. The safe house investigator took photos from the evidence tapes and towards the end of the operation, several LVMPD officers were brought into the operation due to their knowledge of the streets and the criminals. They identified many of the unknown suspects.
7.) While Operation Switch was closing down, a second sting was being operated. This one used two vans, one for the deals and the other for recording. Its operational name was “All Crooks Welcome” (a third, codenamed “Welcome Back,” was being planned). Financing was through donations from local businessmen. It was not as successful because of the number of thieves arrested in Operation Switch — we’d thinned the herd somewhat.
8.) One of the arrested suspects wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper condemning LVMPD for the entrapment and lying — even going so far as to say they were promised a car but it was not given out. He was wrong; the photo of the car that was taped to the wall was given away.
9.) Many repeat customers were encountered and handled by lowering the regular price, saying we have many others of the same thing; however, guns were always purchased.
During Operation Switch, we recorded 290 individual videotapes depicting actual transactions (this excludes scouting events). Of the 105 different suspects we encountered, 86 suspects sold property that had been reported stolen. We arrested 24 suspects at the party — another 20 were arrested while in jail on other charges. There were also others arrested later, and warrants for still others were entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
Best stat of all? We had 100 percent convictions stemming from Operation Switch cases.
About the Author
Jack Miller is the author of seven published books (Cold War Warrior, Cold War Defector, The Medal, The Master Cheat, The Peacekeepers, and Sin city Indictment) The seventh, Operation Switch, provides more detail of this first long term undercover police sting.
